So proud!!! We got Willow on October 14th and the breeder warned she was raised on live, but in her 2.5 months of life, has taken 3 f/t meals.
We left her alone until tonight (Sunday,) and then made sure the rat pup was heated up pretty hot (not cooked obviously,) and then I did the Zombie Rat Dance in the mouth of her hut. A few tense moments went by and I thought she was going to refuse, but then we saw a little white snoot come to the front of the hut and SNATCH! The rat pup was wrapped up! She downed it very quickly and now there is a tiny baby with a fat bump in her belly. Poor Yzma is in the same room and in shed. She smelled the rat and came out looking for food. I told her to go back to bed until she's done shedding, then she will have a nice rat waiting for her.
So happy that we can start to get her used to being handled in 48 hours! If she's happy enough to eat (and eat a f/t over a live,) then I think she will be ok to handle for a few minutes each day!
We defrosted the rat in the fridge over night, then put it in a baggie, in a tub of hot water and changed the water out once. After a few minutes, we put the pup under her heat lamp to help her get the smell, and finally blasted the head with a blow dryer. It was one hot little body. It felt like a baby who would have been in the middle of a super warm ratty pile. It's nose bled a bit too, which I'm sure helped.
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